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Larkham rules out Brumbies move amid merger talk

Wallabies assistant Stephen Larkham. Photo / Getty Images

Stephen Larkham said Brumbies will “only ever play out of Canberra” amid speculation of a merger with Rebels and sees no reason why the club cannot press on in the search for his successor.

The number of Super Rugby franchises is reportedly set to be reduced from 18 to 16, resulting in uncertainty so early in the 2017 competition.

But talk of Brumbies joining forces with Melbourne side Rebels is news to Larkham.

“We are a Canberra team, we support this region, the region supports us and the Brumbies will only ever play out of Canberra,” said the Brumbies coach, who will leave his role at the end of the season to take up a permanent role with Australia.

“I think it’s disappointing that people are even suggesting that [a merger] and I think that’s what we’re seeing at the moment is that there’s a lot of speculation.

“We’ve had no indication we’re not going to be here next year and our mindset is that we’re going to be here,

“We’ve been the most successful Super Rugby franchise in Australia and our books are good, our squad is strong and there’s no reason why we can’t push ahead for a new coach next year to come and coach the Brumbies here in Canberra.”

Larkham also stated he is well aware of why it will take time for any proposed changes to be announced.

“It is [dragging on] but I can understand it’s a difficult decision and there’s a lot of iterations around one team out, two teams out, three teams out, all that sort of stuff,” he added.

“I guess they’re working through all of that and they need to get a decision from South Africa before we move on.

“Even when we get that decision, there’s a couple more decisions to be made before we make the final decision. I can understand how the process has dragged out.”

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Nickers 19 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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